Gotcha Day

This morning I was up early. Time seemed to drag, but finally at 9:30 this morning, we all met in the hotel lobby and drove to the civil affairs building. There were a total of 10 families.

As we got there, the guides realized that several children were already there. Bags were shuffled, cameras were passed as families started to meet each other. The first 3 families had a few minutes together and then another baby came in. She was a small little girl, so we knew it was either Stephanie's Ashton or our Caitlyn, but her back and the guides were turned away from us. When they turned our way, I realized it was our Xue Hua, or Caitlyn. I got David's attention as he was taking pictures for someone else and we got our cameras. David actually made it over to her first and started talking to her. The orphanage director was holding her and after a few minutes I reached for her and she came right to me.

We found a quiet corner and held her and talked to her and fed her Cheerios. The orphanage director answered a few questions but it seemed we got a lot of conflicting information. We gave her a bottle of a milk/yogurt drink they sent. She took it like a champ, but the nipple had been cut in a big x. Unfortunately it looks like her lip repair will need redone. It is really fat and doesn't really pull away from the top of her teeth. But she looks clean and healthy. Her skin and eyes are clear. She was wearing an outfit we sent her at Christmas. She was a champ on the bus back to the hotel. She ate Cheerios, fed baba (daddy) Cheerios, laid her head on my chest, sucked her thumb and held the cuff of her other sleeve with her fingers like a blanket.

When we got back to the hotel we found her diaper had leaked. She had two diapers on and the top one was dry, so it must have leaked around the leg. We had no intention of changing her clothing because we wanted her to get used to us first, but now we had to. The only time she really cried started when we took her clothes off and continued until she was asleep. After the diaper we tried to get her down for a nap. She laid with me on the bed, but that didnt work. We reluctantly put her alone in her crib, like her notes said she liked, but that only made us both upset. She finally fell asleep laying on me while I was sitting in the chair. She transferred easily to the crib.

She'll have to grieve at some point. We'll just wait it out. Anyway, thanks for letting me record the details, but I know you really just want pictures, so here you go. I'll load them in order, but I think we all know by now that Blogger will upload them however they want.

I couldn't get this uploaded earlier, so I may as well finish the day. Caitie woke up and had wet through everything. I didn't realize it until I also felt wet, so we both got changed; third outfit for her and a sink full of laundry for me. We ate and played and went to sign paperwork and she had a huge blow out. Rather than a fourth outfit, we took a bath and put on jammies. I wasn't planning to do a bath today as often it is traumatic and her paperwork said she hates baths. Ummm, no, baby girl splashed and screamed and giggled and smiled. She stayed in until the water got cold. Now she is snuggled in bed with David proving she drink from a water bottle. She's so smart and cute!! We are so in love!!